


A Study In Contrasts

by onereader



Series: A Study In Contrasts [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bearded Neville Longbottom, Don't copy to another site, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, Hot Neville Longbottom, M/M, Making Out, POV Neville Longbottom, why isn't that a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 00:39:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18680572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onereader/pseuds/onereader
Summary: In which Neville grew up hot, but still doesn't quite remember it all the time, and Theo is freckled, handsome,andlikes plants. You know what happens next.





	A Study In Contrasts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MarchnoGirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarchnoGirl/gifts).



> This fic is absolutely inspired by the wonderful @drarryruinedme7 and her Theo headcanons and love for the Neville x Theo ship (theoville? neveo?) and @bblgumbby was my fantastic beta and cheerleader.
> 
>  
> 
> This post provided the impetus for the story, and made me cackle so check it out.
> 
> Motivation to write (as in, a fire lit under my arse with the deadline for today) provided by the amazing @growing-neville fest and the drarry discord squad - who all love their rarepairs too!
> 
> Also, here are my face-casts for this fic- Neville & Theo 👌

Neville had been worried at first when Theo Nott had been hired to work with him. Theo didn’t have anything to do with growing the plants, that was very much Neville’s domain, but he took care of harvesting seeds and fruit, or taking cuttings of leaves and preparing them to be sent out to apothecaries and potions masters across Europe. He was apparently fully qualified for the job, but Neville couldn’t help but be protective of his plants, and a little scared that he and Theo wouldn’t get on.

 

It wasn’t as though Neville had never spent time with the man, the War was a long time past, and when Harry had started dating Draco the old Hogwarts Houses had taken to mixing pretty thoroughly - both socially and romatically. On their monthly pub nights at the Three Broomsticks it wasn’t unusual for a whole host of old school alumni to show up - from all four Houses.

 

Theo had been coming to these informal little events since Draco had moved in with Harry. Neville had witnessed Draco wine drunk and ranting about how he wanted his friends to be a part of things too, and from then on his old Slytherin cronies were a regular part of the evening. It took a little while for everyone to become comfortable with each other, but they had all persevered. Copious rounds of drinks had certainly helped.

 

Neville wasn’t a shy person, per say, but he preferred a quiet dinner or drinks with his friends rather than big group events. So at first he had bristled at the inclusion of new people, people he wasn’t sure of, people he didn’t know well. But he was a grown up now, and politeness smoothed the way, then alcohol eased it even further. He could happily sing ribald drinking songs with Pansy perched on his knee now, and regularly thrashed Blaise at darts.

 

Theo had always seemed to keep his distance from Neville though, and at first he thought it might be some kind of hangover from Nott senior’s awful beliefs. But Luna of all people became fast friends with Theo, and reassured Neville that his idea couldn’t be further from the truth. 

 

“Oh Neville, you’re so funny! You’re just like Harry when he used to think Draco was just like his father too, aren’t you?” Luna’s smiling face sobered. “No. Theodore is quite a gentle soul. We were the same age when our mothers died you know. He could see the Thestrals too, though he didn’t visit them like I did.” 

 

A gentle pat on his cheek and she swirled away in a haze of white-blonde hair and tinkling bells stitched along her scarves. Neville had put that thought to bed there and then. Luna was about as good a judge of character as anyone he had ever met, and he trusted her. If she was happy to embrace Theo as a friend, then Neville was at least able to accept him as part of the group. 

 

From that point on, Neville made a point of saying hello to Theo when they all met up, of being friendly and smiling. Neville was acutely aware of the way he looked now even though he still had days where he felt like the bumbling, chubby boy he was at school. But he was tall now, and broad; his long hair and growing beard he got teased by his friends a lot for looking intimidating. He didn’t think Theo was the sort of person who would be impressed by his fame, and he definitely wasn’t holding on to old school house rivalries, so maybe it was just the way Neville looked that put him off. Theo was at least a foot shorter than Neville, maybe he felt crowded around his bulk.

 

So Neville had worried at first, when he found out Theo would be working with him so closely. His work at the vast greenhouses was more than a job, it was his passion, and he didn’t want that ruined by a chilly relationship with his colleague. But he needn’t have spent so much time being anxious. Theo had smiled and shook his hand warmly on his first day in post, and seemed to be so much more comfortable talking with Neville  _ here _ than in the social environment of the pub.

 

They had quickly developed a rapport and Neville was constantly impressed with Theo’s knowledge of the plants they worked with. He hadn’t damaged so much as a single leaf in his daily rounds gathering his harvest for their outgoing orders and he actually asked Neville intriguing questions about the growing specifications for his favourite plants. 

 

He had even singled out Neville’s own  _ Mimbulus Mimbletonia _ as the most interesting plant in Greenhouse 1, and asked all about how to safely harvest its Stinksap. Neville had been waiting for someone to be interested in that plant since his fifteenth birthday, he didn’t quite know what to do with himself, and found himself flustered for the rest of that day. 

 

All of that left Neville with the dawning realisation that he hadn’t been worried about the right thing at all. Instead of being so preoccupied with maybe not enjoying work now that Theo was there, he should have been thinking about the fact that he might like Theo being there a little  _ too much. _

 

On top of a quietly dry sense of humour which got even Hermione cackling on pub nights, Theo was capable, interesting, and he liked Herbology almost as much as Neville did. He was also totally, absolutely, and devastatingly Neville’s type. 

 

Neville had finished for the day, and as he rushed into the staff room ahead of Theo he couldn’t help but think about the other man. Couldn’t help but indulge in his crush.

 

Theo had artfully tousled dark hair which just begged to have fingers run through it, and eyes as dark as the loamy soil Neville worked with every day. He was fair, with dark freckles across the bridge of his nose; Neville couldn’t help but think about the contrast between them, his tanned skin against Theo’s milk pale complexion. 

 

Neville’s thoughts quickly slid into territory he knew he shouldn’t indulge in while still at work, not with Theo heading into the tea room for their end of day catch-up. He couldn’t be daydreaming about all the ways he’d like to test and compare those contrasts for himself, couldn’t imagine  _ exactly _ how it would feel to run his hands over lithe muscles -  not when he still blushed as much as he had when he was a teenager. Even if the beard  _ would _ cover some of it up.

 

He distracted himself with washing his hands and arms, scrubbing the days dirt from under his nails as he willed away mental images of pale skin on dark bed covers from his mind's eye. As he mindlessly soaped and rinsed, Theo slipped into the cosy staff room. 

 

“Hey Nev, fancy a cuppa before we go?” Theo nodded at the kettle. 

 

“Yeah that would be lovely Theo, thanks.” 

 

Neville found himself smiling as he turned to watch Theo set up their usual cups for tea. It pleased him on a deep level to see that Theo know exactly how he liked his tea, knew his favourite cup. Maybe he shouldn’t be daydreaming about Theo naked while they were at work, but he could appreciate these moments of domestic camaraderie. 

 

He dropped himself heavily onto the worn out sofa that had been probably been parked in the tea room for longer than Neville was alive, and groaned as he took the weight off his feet. 

 

Hunching over his plants all day brought him a lot of joy, but since he’d shot past six feet tall and into the  _ 'might have to duck to get through that door’ _ territory he didn’t find much joy in his back at the end of a long day. He stretched, eyes scrunched closed and his hands behind his head as he worked out all of the kinks in his spine, and was lost in the bliss of it until he heard the slosh of tea slopping over the side of a cup. 

 

He opened his eyes to see Theo still bent over the coffee table, a small puddle of tea around each cup where it sat on the surface, and his dark gaze fixed firmly on Neville. Maybe it was just the fact that Neville had been fantasising about him earlier, but he could swear he saw a heat in those dark eyes. It was probably wishful thinking though, people like Theo didn’t go for people like Neville.

 

Theo sat in the chair opposite him, another ugly but comfortable relic from past staff. He settled back with his tea in one hand, and rubbed the back of his neck with the other. He almost looked nervous.

 

“Right. Neville. I was going to mention that I’ve just taken some seeds from the Venomous Tentacula and I think you might want to move it a bit further from the Devil’s Snare seedlings - it looks like they might get tangled together if  you don’t do that within the next week or so.” 

 

“Oh thanks, I hadn’t realised those seedlings were coming along so fast - I’ll do that first thing in the morning. Did you get enough seeds for the—”

 

He trailed off as Theo held up his hand, motioning for his attention. 

 

“Look. Um. This is a bit awkward but Luna said I should just be honest, that’s what you ex-Gryffindors appreciate apparently. But…” Theo was back to rubbing his neck again, and a blush touched his high cheekbones.

 

Neville wondered what on earth was making the normally unflappable Theo seem so out of his comfort zone. It couldn’t be the plants. What if Theo had noticed the way Neville had been looking at him? What if Pansy had said something? Neville might have given himself away at the last pub night, Theo had been wearing that tight fitting jumper which just made Neville want to wrap his arms around him and never let go. 

 

“Okay I’m just going to come out with it, and you have to promise you won’t hate me. Yes?”

 

Neville nodded, mute with anxiety.

 

“First. I recognise I have got  _ no bloody right _ to be making this kind of demand but I’m just kind of compromised and you have to forgive me.” He leant forward to put his tea down on the coffee table and took a deep breath, seemingly bracing himself for whatever he was about to say. “Neville, I am going to need you to stop growing your beard. Because if you get any more handsome than you already are, I’m going to end up trying to fuck you and I don’t think that is something you would appreciate.”

 

Having said his piece, Theo threw himself back into his armchair, covering his eyes with one hand. 

 

Neville felt a stunned grin stealing across his own face, and realised he was already unconsciously rubbing his beard - a habit he had picked up as soon as it passed the stubble stage. He couldn’t believe that just five minutes earlier he had been so worried about daydreaming of Theo inappropriately, when apparently Theo had been just as guilty. Maybe people like Theo  _ did _ go for people like him.

 

“Theo, I’m not going to shave my beard. I quite like it actually.”

 

He hauled himself out of the sofa, and moved around the table towards Theo’s chair.

 

“Neville,  _ Merlin _ , I’m sorr—”

 

He cut Theo’s apology off by the simple method of moving his chair, grabbing his hand, and pulling him bodily onto his feet. Neville thrilled at the ease with which Theo followed his physical suggestions, all of the ways this apparently instinctual response could play out were whirling round his mind. 

 

“First off Theo, I promised I wouldn’t hate you, so relax.” Neville reached out and put a hand on Theo’s shoulder, hoping the touch would calm him down. “Secondly, I’m not getting rid of the beard because yeah - I like it. But. Now I also like that  _ you _ like it.” He felt his confidence ebb slightly, and shrugged bashfully as his cheeks warmed with a blush. “How will I get you to try and fuck me if I can’t lure you in with this thing?”

 

For one achingly eternal feeling moment, Neville is terrified that he’s gone to far. Theo’s dark eyes are wide and his mouth is open in astonishment. But then one pale hand is reaching out to him, cupping the side of his face, a thumb is rubbing against his beard and  _ fuck  _ it feels good when someone else did that. 

 

Theo steps forward, intention clear in every line of his body, and suddenly Neville wants to be sure that this isn’t just a fleeting infatuation for him. They work together, they have the same friends, he needs to know what this is going to be. And he doesn’t think a simple tumble in the sack will be enough for him. He pulled the sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat, so he could take this a step further - couldn’t he?

 

“I’d like my beard even better if it makes you want to go for dinner with me, as well as fuck me, though?”

 

“Merlin, you have no idea do you?” Theo breathed as he leaned in, his eyes flicking over Neville's face as though eager to take in each detail. “I thought I was as obvious as a fifth year Hufflepuff. Neville, I’ve even got flyers for an exhibition at the muggle botanic gardens in my bag because I think you’d like their exotics.” 

 

Neville grinned and wrapped his arms around Theo’s slim waist, drawing him against his body and reeling with how good it felt to be pressed together. 

 

“Maybe you’re more subtle than you think, I sort of thought you might be put off by how big I’ve gotten.”

 

Theo just rolled his eyes and draped his arms around Neville’s neck, bringing their chests together. He was sure his heart was beating hard enough that Theo would feel it thundering against his own, but any thoughts were obliterated when Theo tilted that perfect face up and gently brought their lips together in a kiss. For all their talk of fucking, it was achingly sweet, Theo’s lips petal soft and yielding against his own. 

 

“Nev,” a kiss at the corner of his mouth. “I think we should take this somewhere that isn’t work.” A kitten lick against his bottom lip. “ _ Fuck _ \- I just want to do this lying down with you.”

 

Neville was reeling from the simultaneous sweetness of Theo’s kisses, and the heat that roared through him at the implication of his desperate whispers. He couldn’t reach his wand fast enough, ensuring his grip on Theo was secure, before Apparating them both into his flat. 

 

As soon as they arrived, Theo’s delicate fingers attacked Neville’s shirt buttons. He made quick work of them between hot kisses and whispered promises, and before Neville knew it his shirt slipped from his shoulders and pooled on the floor. Those pale hands were immediately on him, roaming the plains of his chest and belly, both muscled from hours of manual work. 

 

He had been right, in his fantasies, about the contrast between his tan and Theo’s fair skin. It was delicious.

 

He reached out and held Theo’s face, his hands cupping that finely cut jaw, and he leant down to kiss him deeply. He licked along his plush bottom lip and like a flower, Theo opened up for him on a gentle gasp. He felt Theo bring his own hands up to grasp his wrists as he cradled his face, and groaned into the kiss. 

 

But Theo had requested lying down, and Neville was going to give it to him. He’d give him the moon if he asked for it. He reluctantly let go of Theo’s beautiful face, and braced himself to pick him up, relieved when Theo immediately wrapped his legs around his waist and buried his face in his neck to deliver dragging sucks and kisses. Neville toed off his shoes, and Theo did the same, the thud of them hitting the floor barely audible over the rushing in his ear

 

For a brief moment he thought about marching up the stairs with his armful of gorgeous, brave, ex-Slytherin, but decided against it almost immediately. This was going to be fast and desperate, they both deserved to take their time with each other later. He dropped down onto his sofa instead, and thanked his lucky stars for their complementary plans when Theo rearranged himself to be able to straddle his hips and stretch bodily over him as he reclined.

 

He looked up at Theo, his hands massaging his thighs, and grinned.

 

“I feel like we’re a little mismatched in the clothing stakes, aren’t we?”

 

He reached up to drag the hem of Theo’s jumper away from his jeans, catching his t-shirt too, and pulled them up and over his head - leaving that dark hair messy and perfect. 

 

“I don't think we quite compare in the abs department Nev,” Theo murmurs with a wry smile. “But you’re welcome to strip me anytime.”

 

Neville found his words of reassurance and denial got lodged in his throat when the view actually registered in his mind. The freckles. Theo’s freckles weren’t just across his nose. A faint dusting of freckles and beauty marks dotted his lean chest, and Neville wanted to kiss every single one of them. 

 

“ _ Theo _ …” he managed to growl out over the roaring lust in his chest. “Theo,  _ look at you.” _

 

He had been aroused ever since Theo uttered his confession in the staff room, and now he’s harder than ever, all of this pale skin laid out before him, Theo’s dark eyes almost eclipsed by pupil in answering heat. He gripped Theo’s thighs tighter, sliding his hands upward until his thumbs grazed the hardness pressing against his zipper. 

 

He kept his eyes locked on Theo’s, the tension between them mounting higher with every heartbeat. Theo must have felt his erection where it pressed insistently against his gorgeous arse. He took a hand away from Theo’s crotch, and raised it, thumbing one pink nipple and gasping at the reaction it pulled from Theo. 

 

His lithe body just  _ rolled _ down against Neville, a moan breaking free from that plush mouth, and all of a sudden Neville needed him closer. He pushed his hips up against Theo’s uncontrolled grind, and moved his hands to grip at his slim hip and to simultaneously drag him down into another lush, open mouthed kiss. 

 

He groaned as Theo’s hand moved to grip his hair, he could feel his loose bun come undone under those clever hands and the sensation of the slight tug on the strands just heightened every pleasurable current running through him. He wrapped his arms around Theo, resting one in the middle of his back, and grabbing a handful of his arse with the other. He could feel those whipcord muscles working as Theo writhed against him, rubbing their cloth covered erections together like horny teenagers. 

 

It’s hot and dirty and everything Neville had been dreaming of since he first accepted that he fancied Theo. He rolled his hips up into Theo’s grind, bracing his heels against the sofa for leverage, and moaned at the perfect friction they were building between them.

 

He slipped his hand into the waistband of Theo’s jeans, under his designer pants, and let his middle finger rest just at the cleft of his arse. He didn’t move to go further, just revelled in the hint of what was to come. Heat pooled low in his belly as he thought about flipping their positions, stripping Theo till he was bare, and eating him out until his eyelashes were wet with frustrated tears. 

 

But he could wait. Right now the whimpers and moans in his ear were intensifying, and he couldn’t keep his mouth away from Theo’s if he tried, he felt like he could kiss him for days and not get tired of it.

 

“Nev… _ ah… _ Merlin I’m so close.” 

 

Just hearing Theo say those words was enough to drive Neville to the edge, both of their movements became frantic as they each chased relief. They were hardly kissing any more, just licking and sucking at each others mouths, sharing breath as they panted with exertion. 

 

Neville came first, the telltale tightening in his balls catching him by surprise despite it all, and he held Theo crushed to him as his hips jerked through his orgasm. While the aftershocks still shot through him like lightning, Theo continued to thrust down against him, whining in frustration. 

 

With what little brain cells were still operating, Neville once again reached his finger between Theo’s pert cheeks, and this time didn’t stop until he could stroke his fingertip against his entrance. As soon as the pad of Neville’s middle finger made contact with his hole, Theo’s whole body went tense, and then - with an aching moan -  he shuddered as his orgasm ripped through him. Neville could feel his hole clenching against his fingertip, and his spent cock twitched in interest. But he could save that for later.

 

For now he wrapped his arms around Theo, satisfaction and warmth filling every cell of his body with relaxed lassitude. Theo relaxed completely on top of him, and rubbed his cheek against Neville’s beard like some kind of overgrown cat. Neville managed to reach his wand where he had dropped it beside the couch and cast a gentle cleansing charm on them both, cleaning their damp underwear, before casting it aside again. He dragged the blanket from the back of his sofa over them both, and once again wrapped his arms around Theo, ready to doze and then wake up and ask him to dinner.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the fic - come and say hello on [my Tumblr](https://shealwaysreads.tumblr.com) for more! <3


End file.
